Such a pile driver is known per se and is suitable for driving a pile into a surface. To this end, the body is placed on the pile. Next, using the drive, the body is lifted relative to the pile along the predetermined path and then lowered onto the pile using the drive and/or gravity. By repeating this method, the pile is driven into the ground. Such piles can for instance form a foundation for constructions on land or at sea.
When pile-driving is done to form a foundation at sea, it may be necessary to perform pile-driving underwater, for instance when building oil rigs. To adapt the pile driver for use under water, the lubricant can comprise water or even seawater, which provides the advantage that lubricant leaking from between the sliding surfaces to surrounding water, or surrounding water penetrating between the sliding surfaces, does not have any significant influence on the movable parts' sliding along each other.
A drawback of the known pile driver is that, for instance if water is used as lubricant, the parts are highly susceptible to corrosion and wear.